Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning

Taught by one of America’s Great Professors

Reasoning, tested by doubt, is argumentation. We do it, hear it, and judge it every day. We do it in our own minds and we do it with others. What is effective reasoning? And how can it be done persuasively? These questions have been asked for thousands of years, yet some of the best thinking on reasoning and argumentation is very new and is a strong break from the past.

Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning, 2nd Edition is equally a course in argument and in reasoning. This course teaches how to reason. It teaches how to persuade others that what you think is right. And it teaches how to judge and answer the arguments of others that you should think as they do.

Professor David Zarefsky’s lectures are filled with examples of actual controversies, but his perspective takes us beyond individual disputes so we can see the structure of all disputes. This perspective orients us within any argument, so argumentation can be seen clearly as an exchange, and not just a flurry of words.

What You’ll Learn

The lectures reveal several striking facts that can make argumentation accessible and familiar to you.

• The tools of formal logic, while essential and even definitive for mathematics and programming computers, are inadequate to decide most controversial issues. For example, the ideal of deductive reasoning, the syllogism (“All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.”) is rarely used in real argument largely because it is useless.

• Arguments fall into a handful of distinct categories—and the same issues are at stake each time one of these patterns occurs.

• There are six kinds of evidence that can be advanced to prove an argument that something is true—and the same tests for truth can be applied to these types of evidence every time.

• Argumentation is not mere quarreling: it is the study of human communication that seeks to persuade through reasoned judgment, and it is a deeply social and

About Our Sale Price Policy

Why is the sale price for this course so much lower than its standard price? Every course we make goes on sale at least once a year. Producing large quantities of only the sale courses keeps costs down and allows us to pass the savings on to you. This approach also enables us to fill your order immediately: 99% of all orders placed by 09:00 GMT ship that same day. Order before 19-June-2006 to receive these savings. cooperative practice. (Although there are times when winning an argument rather than finding the truth is prized, that is not why most of us exchange arguments.) The course does not require any special prior knowledge or training.

About Your Professor

Dr. Zarefsky is the Owen L. Coon Professor of Argumentation and Debate and Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University, where he has taught for more than 30 years. The Student Government of Northwestern has elected Professor Zarefsky to the Honor Roll for Teaching 13 times.

About The Teaching Company

We review hundreds of top-rated professors from America’s best colleges and universities each year. From this extraordinary group, we choose only those rated highest by panels of our customers. Fewer than 10% of these world-class scholar-teachers are selected to make The Great Courses. We’ve been doing this since 1990, producing more than 2,000 hours of material in modern and ancient history, philosophy, literature, fine arts, the sci ences, and mathematics for intelligent, engaged, adult lifelong learners. If a course is ever less than completely satisfying, you may exchange it for another or we will refund your money promptly.

Lecture Titles

1. Introducing Argumentation and Rhetoric 2. Underlying Assumptions of Argumentation 3. Formal and Informal Argumentation 4. History of Argumentation Studies 5. Argument Analysis and Diagramming 6. Complex Structures of Argument 7. Case Construction—Requirements and Options

8. Stasis—The Heart of the Controversy

9. Attack and Defense I 10. Attack and Defense II 11. Language and Style in Argument 12. Evaluating Evidence 13. Reasoning from Parts to Whole 14. Reasoning with Comparisons 15. Establishing Correlations 16. Moving from Cause to Effect 17. Commonplaces and Arguments from Form 18. Hybrid Patterns of Inference 19. Validity and Fallacies I 20. Validity and Fallacies II 21. Arguments between Friends 22. Arguments among Experts 23. Public Argument and Democratic Life 24. The Ends of Argumentation